Mexico's new coach Rafa Marquez brings a long USA history to Saturday friendly

The former Barcelona defender, now Mexico's head coach, was twice sent off against the United States as a player and meets them Saturday from the touchline.

The United States men's national team meets Mexico on Saturday in the third match of a long international window, and El Tri arrive with a new head coach whom American supporters know all too well. Rafa Marquez was hired after the 2026 World Cup, a tournament Mexico exited with a defeat against England at Estadio Azteca, with Javier Aguirre leaving the role once it ended. The assignment is the first senior head coaching job of Marquez's career, entrusted to a former captain of the national team.

Hostility from United States fans stretches back to Marquez's playing days, and he was asked about it ahead of his first game against them from the bench. "I don't know what you're talking about," Marquez said. "I've already forgotten about that."

His playing career began at Atlas, where he broke into the first team as a 17-year-old in 1996 and spent three seasons there. Performances at the 1999 Copa America drew European attention and took him to Monaco, where he made 109 appearances over four years. A spot on the Ligue 1 Team of the Season for the 2002-03 title-winning campaign preceded a summer 2003 transfer to Barcelona costing just over €5 million.

At Camp Nou he became a mainstay, racking up 242 appearances across seven seasons and lining up alongside Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto'o and others. His silverware there included two Champions League titles and four La Liga championships. Individually, 2005-06 was his peak: 25 starts in La Liga, eight more in the Champions League and a full 90 minutes in the final win over Arsenal.

A three-season stint with the New York Red Bulls followed, bringing the 2010 Eastern Conference title but playoff exits in each of those years. He kept playing into his late 30s at Club Leon, Hellas Verona of Italy and finally Atlas again. Retirement came in 2018, by which point the 39-year-old had logged more than 600 club appearances and 26 goals.

His path to the top job ran through Atlas's front office, where he served as sporting director for less than a year before departing in May 2019. Time as a TUDN analyst came next, followed by a role in the Atlas youth setup he had once come through himself. He coached Barcelona Atletic for two years from 2022, then joined Javier Aguirre's staff with Mexico's senior side.

Marquez won 148 caps for Mexico and scored 17 goals, numbers that put him level with Pavel Pardo in joint fourth on the country's all-time appearance chart. Only Andres Guardado (180), Claudio Suarez (178) and Guillermo Ochoa (153) are ahead of him. A combative defensive midfielder who also filled in at the back, he holds the national record of 19 World Cup appearances and in 2018 became just the fourth player, after Antonio Carbajal, Lothar Matthaus and Gianluigi Buffon, to appear at five World Cups in a row.

His record against the United States cuts both ways. He first played them at the 1999 Confederations Cup, helping Mexico to a 1-0 golden-goal semifinal win, but he later collected two red cards in the rivalry: one in the 2002 World Cup round of 16 after a head-first collision with Cobi Jones as the US led 2-0, and another in 2009 qualifying for a flying kick that caught goalkeeper Tim Howard on the knee. He also featured in several qualifying wins over the Americans at Estadio Azteca, and his last game against them brought a goal in a 2016 qualifier, the only occasion in his career that Mexico beat the United States on American soil in World Cup qualifying.

Mexico visit the United States on Saturday, October 3, with kickoff at 10:00 PM EDT at State Farm Stadium. Coverage runs on TNT, HBO Max, Tele, Universo and Peacock.